Red Jello
by Ryo314
Summary: Riley is sick. What more can you want?
1. Chapter I: Orange Juice

Title: Red Jello

Author: Ryo314

Rating: K+

Disclaimer: I don't own National Treasure. Disney does. They own everything. If you check, you'll see they own your soul.

Summary: Riley's sick. What more can you want?

Note: This is set between the two movies, very close to the ending of the first. Sorry for the first post of this. For some reason, the uploader took off all my quotation marks.

**Red Jello**

Chapter I: Orange Juice and an Empty Apartment

"_A jewish woman had two chickens. One got sick, so the woman made chicken soup out of the other one to help the sick one get well." Henny Youngman_

Ever since finding the Templar Treasure, Riley had been trying to give Ben some space. He wasn't angry at the treasure hunter, and he'd even gotten over the whole having to split one percent. No, the reason why he was trying to give Ben space was because for the first time since he and Ben had been friends, Ben was in a serious relationship, and Riley didn't want to crowd the two new lovebirds. However, Riley was really wishing he had someone to talk to considering how miserable he felt. He had a fever, his entire body ached, his chest was tight, his head was stuffed up, his throat burned, and to top everything off, it felt as though his lungs had been filled with jello. That last part really irked him; he hated jello, especially red jello. In fact, Riley didn't know anyone who liked red jello.

The only thing that was keeping him sane at the moment was the laptop sitting on his legs. There were four programs running on it: a chat box that was depressingly void of conversation, Microsoft Word, a program writer, and a game of Tetris.

Feeling a familiar tickle in the back of his throat, Riley grabbed a tissue from the box sitting on his coffee table and coughed loudly into it. He was hoping it was only going to be that one cough, but of course it wasn't. The first cough led to a second which was followed by a third, and before he knew it, Riley was in the middle of a full blown coughing fit. It went on for several minutes, and by the time it was over, Riley lay on the couch panting and covered in a cold sweat.

"Water," Riley said in a raspy voice. He reached pathetically toward the kitchen, but sighed when his hand fell about ten feet short.

With another raspy cough, Riley threw the blanket off his legs and made his way to the kitchen. He grabbed a class from the cabinet and filled it with water. He drained the glass quickly and then filled it again. Riley took the glass back to the couch and crawled back under his blankets.

"I am miserable," Riley said to his ceiling. He was disappointed by his ceiling's lack of sympathy.

With a low groan, Riley leaned his head back and closed his eyes. He'd only meant to close his eyes for a moment, but before he knew, he'd fallen asleep.

XVIIIIV

It was dark out when Riley woke up, and he'd wondered how long he'd been asleep. Reaching for his cellphone which was laying on the coffee table, Riley let out another raspy cough; it was amazing how his lungs could as though they were filled with some disgusting fluid, but his throat just burned from dryness. Riley opened the phone and saw that it was 5:00; he'd been asleep for two hours.

In all honesty, Riley didn't get sick that often, but when he did, it was quite a show. His freshman year of college, he started getting sick during midterms. He tried to work through the illness, but after three straight days of studying and no sleep, Riley had passed out during a java exam. He'd ended up hospitalized for three days; Riley swore he would never go through that again.

Seldom getting sick meant another thing for Riley; he didn't really know what to do when it happened. He always heard people say to rest and get fluids. He was lying on the couch, and there were sodas and energy drinks in his fridge. A nagging, little voice in the back of his head, which sounded suspiciously like Abigail, told him that what was in his fridge were not what people meant by "fluids."

"Anyone want to go to the store for me?" Riley shouted to his empty apartment; there was no response, and with another disgruntled sigh, Riley got himself off the couch. He could take his car down to the convenience store, but searching for his keys in the mess he called an apartment seemed like a more daunting task than just walking the block to the convenience store. Grabbing his hoodie from the kitchen counter, Riley made his way out the front door.

He noticed that the sky was looking pretty dark for it only being a little past five, and the clouds looked awful ominous. For a moment, Riley considered going back inside and getting his keys, but by the time he found the keys, he could have already gotten to the store.

His walk to the convenience store was not horrible, but the cool D.C. wind was not doing much for his already aching chest. He entered the store and relished the warm air that entered his lungs when he did. Riley made his way straight back to the drink coolers, pulled one open, and grabbed six bottles of orange juice. Riley carried his drinks back up to the front of the store and set them down on the counter.

"It's really coming down out there," said the clerk, a thirty-something woman with short brown hair, as she began to ring up his drinks.

"What?!" Riley looked out the doors and his heart fell; it was pouring down rain. It seemed that in the minute and a half he had been in store, someone had taken the liberty of splitting open the sky.

"Maybe it will lighten up?" said Riley hopefully. A flash of lightening and a crack of thunder dashed his hopes.

"$9.82," said the clerk.

Riley paid for his drinks and took the bag from the clerk. For a moment, Riley rested his hand on the door and watched to see if the rain showed any signs of tapering off; it didn't. With a heavy sigh, he pushed open the door and made his way out into the rain.

Riley was only about halfway back to his apartment, but he was already soaked through. He was freezing, and his aching body and joints were screaming at him to get out of the rain. For some reason, Riley thought it would be a good idea to run, considering it would get him out of the rain fast. Riley took off, but only after a few yards, his foot slipped, and he went crashing to the rain soaked sidewalk. The drinks went all across the sidewalk, and Riley rolled onto his back to grab at his now throbbing elbow.

For several seconds, Riley lay on the ground and stared up the sky, which was still pouring buckets of rain onto him. "It's because I stole the Declaration of Independence, isn't it?" Riley shouted up at whatever deity was starting down at him. When no response came, Riley rolled to his knees, gathered up his drinks, and got back to his feet.

Riley made it back to his apartment without further incident, but his clothes were soaked through. All he wanted to do was change into some nice, dry clothes and curl back up on the couch.

Dropping the bag of drinks on the kitchen counter, Riley made his way to his bedroom. He had to change all his clothes, including his boxers, before he could enjoy the lumpy comfort of his couch. Relishing the feel of warm, dry clothes on his freezing and aching body, Riley made his way back out to the living room. With another raspy cough, he all but collapsed onto the couch. For several minutes, Riley contemplated getting back on his laptop, but before he could make up his mind, he'd fallen asleep.

XVIIIIV

An annoying ringing woke Riley from his rather peaceful sleep. Throwing back his blankets, Riley groped for his phone as he sat up. Flipping open the phone, Riley broke into yet another couching fit; this one was wore that any from before, probably because he had gone running through the rain.

As the couching finally died away, Riley could hear someone saying his name. He looked around the apartment, but didn't see anyone. It took him another few seconds to realize it was coming from the phone in his hand.

"Hello?" said Riley into the phone.

"Riley? Thank God! Are you okay?" It was Ben's worried voice on the other end.

"Yeah." It came out as a rasp, so Riley cleared his throat and tried again. "Yeah. I've just got a cold."

"You sound horrible."

"Thank you. That makes me feel a lot better."

"Sorry." There was a pause. "I was calling to see if you wanted to come over for dinner tomorrow."

"Dinner?" Didn't Ben want to be alone with Abigail?

"Yeah. Dinner. It's a custom a lot of people follow which involves food and conversation. We haven't seen you for awhile, and Abi and I thought you might like a free meal."

As nice as the dinner sounded, Riley didn't really want to be a third wheel to Ben and Abigail, not to mention that spending anytime with him would probably make them both sick.

"That's nice of you, Ben, but I don't want to make you or Abi sick."

There was another pause. "How sick are you, Riley?"

Riley didn't know how to respond. If he told the truth, Ben would get all worried and insist on coming over, and as much as Riley would have enjoyed his friend's company, he didn't feel like getting Ben sick. On the other hand, Riley was miserable, and he didn't know how well he could play off the "It's just a cold" card. He decided to try anyway.

"It's just a cold, Ben," Riley lied. "I swear."

"Do you need anything?"

"Got a couch and orange juice. What more do I need?" To be honest, it was a real question.

"Chicken soup."

Riley laughed, which turned into a brief coughing fit. "Not if you're making it, Ben. I've had your cooking."

"Hey! I'm a good cook."

"Yeah." Riley scoffed. "To the poor unfortunate people without taste buds." Both friends laughed.

"Are you sure you don't need anything?" asked Ben.

"I'm fine, Ben. If you make the offer for the weekend, I'll come over."

"I think that could work out."

"Good. I'll see you then."

"Kay. See ya, Riley."

"Bye, Ben."

Riley flipped the phone shut and leaned his head back. The phone call had taken a lot out of him, and he could feel his eyes drifting shut.

"_Maybe walking home through the rain wasn't the best idea," _Riley thought to himself as another set of coughs wracked his body. In a little while, when he had more energy, he'd get up and get some of the juice he bought.

XVIIIIV

As Ben walked into the kitchen, he set his phone onto the kitchen counter and let out a sigh.

"Is he coming?" asked Abigail, who sat at the kitchen table reading a book.

"No," said Ben, not bothering to hide the disappointment in his voice. "He said he would come over this weekend."

"Why not tomorrow? We haven't seen him in forever."

"He has a cold." Ben took a seat next to Abigail.

"You don't sound convinced."

Ben sighed. "Oh. I'm convinced that he has a cold. I'm not convinced that it is just a cold."

"Did he sound that bad?" Abigail sounded worried.

"In all honesty," said Ben, "he sounded horrible."

"Why don't you go over there?"

"I offered," replied Ben, "but he kept saying that it was just a cold, and that he didn't want me to get sick."

Abigail set her book down. "This isn't right. Riley shouldn't be by himself when he's sick."

"Should I just go over there?" asked Ben.

She shook her head. "No." She paused for a moment to think. "I've got it. I'll make a big batch of chicken soup, and you can take it over to him tomorrow."

Ben started laughing, remembering his conversation with Riley from earlier.

"What's so funny?"

Ben looked up at her. "What?"

"What's so funny?" He mouth dropped open. "Are you laughing at my cooking skills?"

Ben was shocked. "What? No!" He tried to collect his thoughts. "No. You see…earlier-"

"Just for that, you can go to the store for me."

"But it's 9:30!"

Abigail smirked. "You'd better hurry then."

Ben sighed as Abigail began to list the things she needed.

**TBC**


	2. Chapter II: Chicken Soup and Boxers

Title: Red Jello

Author: Ryo314

Rating: K+

Disclaimer: I don't own National Treasure. Disney does. They own everything. If you check, you'll see they own your soul.

Summary: Riley's sick. What more can you want?

Note: Hello. This is chapter two, and chapter three is partially written. I am thinking there are going to be about five in all. I fixed the quotation marks.

**Red Jello**

Chapter II: Chicken Soup and Boxers

"_I am…stubborn, and I admit, so it's ok." Mila Kunis_

Riley woke the next morning to the sounds of the garbage truck outside his apartment. He'd fallen asleep on the couch, which sounded like a good idea the night before when he was too exhausted to get up and go to his own bed, but now, he was seriously regretting it. His entire body had already been aching, now it was screaming. With a pathetic groan that Riley hoped he would never make again, he sat up and looked around his apartment; it looked worse in the morning than it had the night before.

Riley coughed harshly into his hand, wiped it on his blanket, and then reached forward for his cellphone which was sitting next to an empty bottle of orange juice. He checked the time, 8:47, and then decided that a hot shower may help out his aching body. It took a monstrous amount of effort, but Riley managed to get himself up off the couch. His rubbed his elbow where he had fallen on it the night before and found that a rather large and painful bruise had formed during the night.

Riley entered the bathroom and slowly took off his clothes. He was grossed out by the feel of the layer of sweat and rain water on his body. That was another really good reason to shower.

For about twenty minutes, Riley relished the feel of the warm water on his aching body. The steam from the shower also seemed to loosen up his chest. However, Riley was still very aware of the jello like feeling that seemed to fill his lungs. When the water just started to run cool, Riley turned off the water and stepped out of the shower. He pulled on his boxers and was about to go into his room to search for some sweats and a t-shirt when an overwhelming feel of nausea struck him.

Dropping to his knees, Riley threw back the lid of the toilet just in time to empty everything he'd eaten in the last day, not that it amounted to much. In the last few days, Riley had eaten some crackers, drank some orange juice, and downed about a gallon of water. After his stomach had managed to empty everything in it, Riley spent several minutes dry heaving, which seemed to be even worse that the vomiting because it was accompanied by horrible stomach cramping.

The episode seemed to be over, and Riley reached out and flushed the toilet. While the shower had seemed to loosen up his chest, the nausea episode seemed to tighten his it again. He had been feeling pretty horrible before, but now, he was completely miserable. He wasn't even entirely sure he could get off his bathroom floor, which was probably the most depressing part of the entire situation. It wasn't just because he was too weak to get up, but who really wants to sit on the bathroom floor in their boxers.

As if the fates were aware of his situation and wanted to make it worse, there was a loud knocking on his door at that moment in time.

XVIIIIV

Like Abigail had said she would, she made a huge batch of chicken soup for Riley; Ben sometimes had to wonder who she liked better: him or Riley. Ben knew that Abigail would have been standing right next to him outside Riley's door if it hadn't been for the fact she had to work.

With the container of soup tucked under his arm, Ben knocked on Riley's door. He waited for a couple of minutes, but no one came to the door. Ben adjusted the soup under his arm and knocked again. Another minute passed, but the door remained shut. Setting the soup on the floor, Ben reached into pocket and pulled out the key Riley had given him for the apartment. Riley had made the copy when they were still searching for the Templar Treasure just in case he needed something from his apartment, and Ben happened to be closer.

Ben inserted the key into the lock but was surprised to find that the door wasn't locked. Ben picked up the container of soup and entered Riley's apartment.

"Riley!?" shouted Ben, setting the soup on the kitchen counter. "Riley!? Are you here?"

Looking around the apartment, Ben could tell that someone had been there recently. The couch looked as though it had been slept on, there was an empty bottle on the coffee table, and Ben saw that Riley's phone was sitting next to the bottle. Riley had to be there.

"Riley!?"

At first, Ben didn't hear a response, but then a faint voice called out. "In here."

Ben followed the voice to the bathroom, and the site that greeted him was a mix somewhere between hilarious and sad. Riley sat with his back against the tub, wearing nothing but a pair of boxers. His face was pale except for some red on his cheeks (Ben didn't know if the red was from fever or embarrassment), and his wet hair was matted to his head.

"Hey, Ben," Riley rasped out before coughing into the crook of his arm; Ben saw a large bruise elbow. "What are you doing here?"

"Um…Abigail made you some soup." Ben kneeled down next to his friend. "Riley, are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Ben. It's just a-"

"Don't you dare say this is just a cold, Riley."

Riley shrugged. "It's just allergies."

Ben shook his head and set his hand on his friend's shoulder; Ben was shocked by how warm it was. "Tell the truth. How long have you been sick?"

Riley smirked in a way that Ben knew meant he didn't want to tell the truth. "Would you believe me if I told you this all came about yesterday?"

"Not on your life."

Riley sighed. "I didn't think you would. I'm fine, Ben. I just have the flu or something. It's really no big deal."

"How long have you been sick, Riley?" Ben repeated with a little more force than the last time.

Riley looked down at the floor and muttered something.

"What was that?" asked Ben.

Riley lifted his head. "Four days." He paused. "But it wasn't really that bad until yesterday. I think someone filled my lungs with jello."

"Jello?" Ben was pretty sure that was something that only made since to Riley.

"Yeah. It was most likely red. Then, they made me run through the run, and when I was almost out of it, they pushed me down." He showed Ben his elbow. "That is how I got this."

Ben was confused and worried about his friend's mental state. "Riley, are you sure you're alright?"

Riley sighed. "I'm only joking around, Ben."

"Don't."

"Party pooper." Riley crossed his arms and winced when his sore joints protested.

"Did you actually go running through the rain last night?"

Riley looked embarrassed. "Yeah."

"Why?"

"I went to the store and bought orange juice."

"Why did you do that?" asked Ben mildly confused.

"Because I've heard it is supposed to be good for you when you're sick," replied Riley with a shrug.

"No." Ben shook his head. "Why did you go?"

Riley furrowed his brow. "Because the kitchen table lost the ability to walk last week."

"I mean why didn't you call me? I would have gone to the store for you."

Ben's question was answered by a sigh. "I know you would have, Ben, but I wasn't going to have you come all the way here just to buy me some orange juice."

"You wouldn't have had to go out in the rain," explained Ben.

"But you would have," countered Riley. He then tried to clear his throat; all this talking was starting to make him lose his voice.

Ben's knees had started to ache, so he got back to his feet. Riley didn't move from his spot on the floor where he was absently rubbing at his very sore throat.

"You need to go to the hospital," said Ben, after several minutes had passed.

Riley looked up quickly. "That was quite a transition, Ben, and no, I don't."

"You're sick!"

"And I'll get over it. Ben, in a few days I'll be—" Riley didn't get a chance to finish his sentence. He broke into a coughing fit that wracked his sore body worse than the others. Ben kneeled back down by his friends and took hold of Riley's shoulders as the younger man continued with the deep, hacking coughs. About a minute passed, which felt more like an hour to Ben, but the coughs had not let up. He got behind his friend as best he could and gently pounded on Riley's back, knowing that the coughing wasn't going to stop until whatever was blocking his throat was gone.

Suddenly, Riley pushed away from him, threw back the lid of the toilet, and spit whatever had been blocking his throat into the water; he then leaned back against his friend, his entire body shaking.

Several minutes passed before Riley felt he had the energy to speak. "This is really awkward, Ben."

"What? Practically sitting in my lap is awkward?" joked Ben.

Riley laughed. "Only because I am in my boxers."

Ben sighed. "You really need to go to the hospital, Riley."

"I don't want to go."

"If you don't go to the hospital, I will tell everyone about this."

"That's blackmail."

"I only blackmail because I care."

Ben got out from behind Riley and got to his feet. Looking back at his friend, Ben felt his heart nearly stop. There was blood on Riley's chin and mouth, and his lips had a slight blue tint to them. Glancing in the toilet, Ben saw that whatever Riley had coughed up was tinted red with blood also.

"My God, Riley," said Ben, completely shocked by his friend's change in appearance.

If it was possible, Riley's face turned even paler. "What is it, Ben?"

Ben signed for Riley to touch his chin, which the younger man did, and when he saw that his fingers had blood on them, Riley looked up at his friend terrified.

"B-Ben?"

"You're going to the hospital, Riley. Wait right here. I'm going to go find you some clothes."

Ben ignored his friend sarcastic comments about having _so_ many places to go at the moment in time, and frantically searched Riley's room for something for his friend to where. Finally finding a pair of sweats and a t-shirt that at least looked clean, Ben returned to the bathroom to find, with relief, that Riley hadn't tried to get up. He helped Riley get dressed, which of course sparked more sarcastic comments from Riley who was, at this point, trying to hold onto some of his dignity, and then helped his friend out of the bathroom.

"Are you sure the hospital is the only option, Ben?" asked Riley as the two made it out into the living room.

"It really isn't up for discussion, Riley," replied Ben, handing the younger man a pair of tennis shoes.

Riley glared at Ben but put on the shoes anyway; he would never had told Ben how much of an effort it took to put the dang things on. After Riley was finally fully dressed, Ben helped him outside to his car, ready to take him to the closest hospital. The container of chicken soup was sitting on the counter, completely forgotten.

**TBC**


	3. Chapter III: Ultimatums and Needles

Title: Red Jello

Author: Ryo314

Rating: K+

Disclaimer: I don't own National Treasure. Disney does. They own everything. If you check, you'll see they own your soul.

Summary: Riley's sick. What more can you want?

Note: I wanted to get this up on Sunday, but I got bogged down this weekend. I don't know when chapter four will be up, but it should be soon.

**Red Jello**

Chapter III: Ultimatums and Needles

"_If you try to do everything alone, you'll wind up tired and stressed-out; Trust your friends and let them help you."_

Ben sat in the emergency waiting room, filling out Riley's information forms; they'd been friends for so long that Ben basically knew everything the hospital could possibly ask on the forms. Riley sat next to him, looking even more miserable than he had back at the apartment.

"I really don't need to be here, Ben," Riley said for the third time since they had gotten to the hospital. "I'm fine."

"Riley, if it weren't for the fact you are having trouble breathing, the next time you said "I'm fine," I would duct tape your mouth shut."

Riley leaned back in his uncomfortable, waiting room chair. "You wouldn't do that to me." He crossed his arms. "You feel bad for me."

"I'm starting to get over it," Ben joked. He finished filling out the forms and took them back to the nurse behind the counter.

"Thank you," said the nurse, taking the forms from Ben and setting them off to the side of the desk. "We'll call him back as soon as possible."

Ben nodded and said a quick thank you before making his way back over to Riley. His friend coughed into his hand, and Ben saw the younger man wipe the blood he'd coughed up on his sweats.

"Are you okay?" Ben set a hand on his friend's back as he sat down.

Riley sighed; he was really sick of hearing that question. "I'm fine, Ben. I just want to leave." On top of the fact he hated hospitals with a passion, Riley was feeling guilty for taking up Ben's time.

"You need to be here, Riley."

"You know I hate hospitals."

It was true; Ben knew first hand that Riley hated hospitals. While they had still been in the research part of looking for the treasure, Riley had slipped during an ice storm and broken his ankle. The younger man had put up quite a fight when Ben tried to take him to the ER. In the end, Ben had won, and Riley had gone to the hospital, but it had taken a _lot _of energy.

Ben knew he was going to have to get in a low blow to get Riley to stay. "I hate seeing you cough up blood, Riley."

The younger man opened his mouth to respond, but no words came out. Riley leaned forward and ran a hand through his hair; it was just now starting to dry. "I'm sorry, Ben," Riley said quietly.

Ben was confused. "What? Why?" Why the Hell was Riley sorry?

Riley sat up. "Because I'm pretty sure you didn't wake up planning on taking me to the hospital."

Ben shrugged. "Plans can change, Riley. I wasn't just going to leave you sitting on your bathroom floor."

Riley smirked. "That much I appreciate."

Their conversation was cut short by a nurse calling out Riley's name.

"Riley Poole?"

With a heavy sigh, Riley got up from his chair and made his way over to the nurse; Ben followed.

The nurse looked up at the two men and then down at the forms in her hands. "Um…which one of you is Riley Poole?"

Riley pointed nervously to Ben, and the older man shook his head. "This is Riley Poole," said Ben, setting his hands on Riley's shoulders and pushing him forward a step.

The nurse looked at Ben. "Who are you?"

"I'm his friend, Ben Gates."

The nurse shook her head. "I'm sorry, but you can't go back there with—"

Riley cut her off. "I want him back there." It wasn't easy to say; who wants to be a grown man afraid of the hospital and who needs a friend with him.

The nurse stared at Riley. "Um…well…I guess that's okay."

Riley breathed an audible sigh of relief, and he and Ben followed the nurse to one of the individual rooms in the emergency room. There was a bed, a counter, and a TV up in the corner.

"I'm going to go get you a gown, and after that, I will come back in to get your blood pressure and everything."

Riley sighed; his day could not get any worse. That was what he thought until the nurse returned with the thin, blue hospital gown. Now his day couldn't get any worse. The nurse pulled the curtain to block off half the room from Ben and her, and Riley changed.

After Riley was changed, he took a seat on the bed, and Ben took a seat in the chair beside the bed.

The nurse took a blood pressure cuff and wrapped it around Riley's upper arm. She took a moment to take Riley's blood pressure and then made a note on Riley's chart.

"Your blood pressure is low," said the nurse. She then got out one of those ear thermometers and took Riley's temperature. "You've got a fever." She took a quick look at Riley's chart. "It says here you coughed up blood."

Riley nodded.

"Well, from the sounds of it, I think you may have pneumonia, but we'll have to get a doctor in here to finish up everything. You should lay back and get some rest, and Dr. Shaw will be in here shortly."

Riley scooted back on the bed, which felt as though it was as thick as a piece of construction paper, and glared at Ben.

"Hate me all you want," said Ben, leaning back in his chair, "but you need to be here."

"Yeah," muttered Riley. "I also need a root canal, but you don't see me running to the dentist."

Ben smiled. "I'll make you an appointment tomorrow."

Riley shook his head. "That's not funny, Ben."

"Who ever said I was joking?" Riley studied his friend's face for a minute, trying to figure out if he was serious or not. He didn't have the time to make his decision because a second later, the doctor walked into the room.

Dr. Shaw was not who Ben and Riley were expecting. She was short, maybe five foot five, with short brown hair cut into a bob; a pair of red glasses accentuated her round face.

"Hello, Mr. Riley Poole?" She looked up from her chart and gave Ben and Riley a large smile. "I'm Dr. Lara Shaw." She set the chart on the counter. "It seems you have been having some problems."

Riley shook his head; the doctor was in way too good of a mood, and Riley was far too miserable to deal with a cheerful person at the moment in time. "I'm fine. Really. My friend here just overreacted."

Dr. Shaw looked past Riley to Ben, who was still sitting in the chair next to Riley's bed; Ben shook his head. The doctor looked back at Riley, still smiling. "Well, if you just show me your medical degree to prove you know what you're talking about, this can all be over."

Riley's mouth dropped open a little; he was not expecting that to be the doctor's response. "Um…I forgot it at my apartment?"

Dr. Shaw laughed and reached for her chart again. "Good one. I have never heard that one before." She took a few seconds to look over the chart again. "Low blood pressure, aches, fever, coughing, vomiting, and coughing up blood." She looked up. "You are one symptom short of being in top shape to run a marathon."

Ben decided to chime in. "He ran through the rain last night."

Riley turned and glared at Ben, not appreciating his friends "contribution" while Dr. Shaw made a note on her chart. She then looked up at Riley, and for the first time, the smile was not on her face. "Why on earth did you go running through the rain?"

Riley shrugged. "I heard it was a good remedy for a cold." If the doctor was going to be sarcastic, so was he.

"Strangest cold remedy I've ever heard." Ben nodded in agreement, but Riley ignored him. He didn't want to be at the hospital, and he was praying that Dr. Shaw wasn't going to find anything wrong with him that deemed an extended stay.

Dr. Shaw set the chart back on the counter and pulled her stethoscope out of her pocket. "If you would please scoot forward, I would like to listen to you take some deep breaths."

Riley complied with the doctor's orders and scooted forward in the bed; he jumped slightly when he felt the cold of the stethoscope on his back, but then took several deep breaths. The first two were fine, but the third caused Riley to burst out into a coughing fit. He felt Ben's hand on his shoulder, and he saw out of the corner of his eye, Dr. Shaw went over to the sink.

As Riley's coughing tapered off, Dr. Shaw handed him a small cup of water. When he reached forward for the glass, Riley saw a couple drops of blood on his hand; he was certain that Ben and Dr. Shaw saw them too, but neither said anything.

Riley drank the small glass of water slowly as Ben stared at Dr. Shaw. She had put her stethoscope around her neck and was now washing her hands in the sink. She turned back toward Ben and Riley and took a deep breath. "Your lungs are certainly not clear, but without x-rays, I cannot say for sure if it is fluid. I can say for certain, however, that your breathing is labored, and your body is not receiving adequate amounts of oxygen."

"How do you know?" asked Riley.

"Your lips have a lovely light blue tint to them." Riley's cheeks flushed a little, and he reached up and touched his mouth. "How long have you been sick?"

"Not very—" Riley felt Ben slap his arm. "Four days."

Dr. Shaw nodded. "I believe you have pneumonia."

Riley shook his head. "No. I don't have pneumonia." If he had pneumonia, he would have to stay at the hospital. "Someone…someone filled my lungs with jello."

Dr. Shaw never broke eye contact with Riley. "You would be dead."

"I'm lucky," said Riley, trying to come up with an explanation to suit his jello story.

Dr. Shaw continued unfazed. "What I am going to do is get the nurse back in here to get a blood sample and hopefully a sputum sample."

Ben and Riley spoke in unison. "Sputum?"

"That wonderful stuff you have been coughing up. After that, I'm going to have an orderly take you down to x-ray. Although I am fairly certain of the diagnosis, we cannot actually begin treatment until we know what type of pneumonia you have."

Riley hadn't really paid attention to anything Dr. Shaw had said; he was waiting for her to finish speaking so he could ask his own question. "When can I leave?"

Dr. Shaw looked surprised by Riley's question. "It depends on how soon the pneumonia clears up. It's most likely going to be a few days."

Riley shook his head and started to get out of the bed. "No. That is not going to work. I cannot stay here."

"You have to."

Ben and Riley looked at Dr. Shaw, startled by the authoritative tone in her voice. "Why?" asked Riley.

Dr. Shaw shrugged and smiled. "Because we have your pants."

Riley looked frantically to the chair where he had set his clothes and was relieved to see that they were still there.

"Look," said Dr. Shaw, "medically, I cannot advise that you leave here."

Riley waved her off. "I absolve you of all responsibility."

"Thank you," she said sarcastically. "That will alleviate all my guilt when you drop dead after leaving my hospital."

At this point, Ben decided to intervene and try to convince Riley to stay. "Riley, pneumonia isn't something you mess around with. If the doctor says that you should say here, you should stay."

Riley turned to Ben; the younger man was looking very nervous. "Ben, I hate hospitals!"

Ben and Riley continued arguing for several minutes while Dr. Shaw leaned against the counter and watched. She made a few notes on a piece of paper and then stepped out into the hall for a moment. When she came back, Dr. Shaw cut both Riley and Ben off.

"I will make a deal with you!" Riley and Ben turned to stare at the much frazzled doctor. "You go through the tests and x-rays, so I can prove you have pneumonia-which you do- and get admitted—"

Riley cut her off. "Where does this work out for me?"

"Allow me to finish," said Dr. Shaw. "You get admitted and stay for two days. If after two days, you've started to improve, I will willingly discharge you into someone's supervision."

"What?" asked Riley.

"You need to stay with someone."

Riley shook his head. "I don't have anyone to stay with."

Ben was shocked. "You can stay with Abi and me."

Riley shook his head again, starting to get dizzy from the repetitive action. "I can't ask you to do that, Ben."

"You didn't ask, Riley."

"Ben—"

"Riley, if you don't take this deal, I will duct tape you to the bed."

"There is probably some in the utility closet down the hall," volunteered Dr. Shaw.

Riley sighed; it was two against one, and he was starting to get too tired to argue. "Okay," Riley relented. "I'll stay, but I am _not_ staying more than two days."

Dr. Shaw smiled, and Ben leaned back in his chair and sighed with relief.

"Great," said Dr. Shaw, sounding very relieved by Riley's decision. "I will get a nurse in here to get the samples and then an orderly will take you for x-rays. After that, we will get you situated in a room and start treatment." She turned to Ben. "Mr…."

Ben realized she wanted his last name and complied. "Gates."

"Mr. Gates, I'm going to need you to leave until Mr. Poole is in his room."

Riley looked horrified. "He can't leave." He was not going to be left alone in the hospital.

Dr. Shaw looked surprised but managed to maintain her composure. "I'm sorry, but we can't have a person wandering around the ER."

"Riley, it will be fine."

The younger man tried to hide the fact he was terrified to be left alone in the hospital. "What if they take my kidneys because you weren't around to stop them?"

Ben and Dr. Shaw laughed, and Riley was glad; he'd successfully distracted them both from the fact he'd just acted like a scared five-year-old.

"The organ snatchers aren't even on the floor you're going to." Riley did not appreciate the joke. "I will personally tell Mr. Gates what room you are in, so he can find you when all the tests are through."

Riley wasn't totally thrilled with Dr Shaw's plan, but considering she had already bent over backwards because of his stubbornness, he decided not to press his luck further. For a moment, Darth Vadar flashed through his head, and a wheezing voice said, "_I have already altered the deal; pray I don't alter it further."_

"Fine," said Riley, scooting back in the uncomfortable bed and crossing his arms.

"Good. A nurse will be in here in a few minutes." Dr. Shaw gave them one last smile and left the room.

Ben stood up from his chair, reached over, and gave Riley's shoulder a comforting squeeze. "Everything is going to be fine, Riley. I will see you in a little while."

"What are you gonna do?"

"I'm going to go call Abigail and tell he what is going on." Ben patted Riley's shoulder and then left the room.

For several minutes, Riley sat on the bed wondering how things could get any worse. When the nurse came in and took out a rather long needle to draw blood, Riley realized just how bad things could get.

XVIIIIV

Ben made his way outside the hospital and pulled out his cellphone; he'd seen a lot of signs in the hospital requesting that people not use their cellphones while in the hospital. Ben knew that Abigail seldom had her phone on at work, so he dialed her office phone instead. It rang twice before some answered.

"Abigail Chase."

"Abi, it's Ben."

"Hey, what's going on?" She was concerned; Ben seldom tried to reach her on her office phone. "Is everything okay?"

"Not really. Riley's in the hospital; the doctor thinks he had pneumonia."

"Pneumonia?"

"Yeah. The doctor wants him to stay for a few days, and if he starts to get better, she said she would let him leave as long as he stayed with someone."

"Riley can stay with us."

Ben nodded even though Abigail couldn't see him. "I already told him that. They are running a few tests and getting some x-rays, and then I am going to go up to his room."

"Is there anything I can do?" asked Abigail.

"Not that…" Ben paused. "Actually, yeah. I'll talk to Riley and see if there is anything he wants from his apartment. I'll call you later and tell you what he wants, and you can stop by Riley's apartment and pick it up."

"I can do that."

"Good. I'll talk to you later."

"Okay. Tell Riley to feel better, and I will see him soon."

"I will. Love you."

"Love you too."

Ben flipped his phone shut and put it back in his pocket.

**TBC**


	4. Chapter IV: Book Plans and Nightmares

Title: Red Jello

Author: Ryo314

Rating: K+

Disclaimer: I don't own National Treasure. Disney does. They own everything. If you check, you'll see they own your soul.

Summary: Riley's sick. What more can you want?

Note: I know it has been for freaking ever since I last posted, and I am really sorry. It got pushed to the back burner after some papers and other assignments for school. I have started chapter five, but I don't know when it will be up.

**Red Jello**

Chapter IV: Book Plans and Nightmares

"_The pen is mightier than the sword, and considerably easier to write with." Marty Feldman_

Ben sat next to Riley with his phone held up to his hear, telling Abigail the items Riley was listing off to him.

"Riley," said Ben, setting the phone on his leg for a moment, "you're only gonna be here for two days; do you really need your laptop?" Riley looked at him like he'd asked if he really needed both lungs. With a sigh, Ben lifted the phone back up. "Bring his laptop."

Abigail laughed. "Does he realize he probably won't feel up to using the computer?"

"You know Riley."

"Sitting right here," said Riley, leaning back against his pillows and flipping the television channel again.

"Which is why I'm talking about you," retorted Ben.

Abigail laughed again. "Is there anything else he wants me to pick up?"

"Anything else, Riley?"

Riley thought for a moment. "Yeah. Ask her if she would bring me iPod."

"I heard," said Abigail. "I'll grab everything and be there in no time."

"Got it. We'll see you then."

Ben hung up the phone and set it on Riley's bedside table. He leaned back in the chair next to Riley's bed and turned his attention to the television which was playing the news. Ben found it a little ironic that the news anchor was discussing and unusually large amount of cases of pneumonia in local schools.

About an hour ago, Riley had been moved up to a private room, and Dr. Shaw had started Riley on medications for viral pneumonia. The medications had already started to make his friend drowsy, and Ben was finding his friend's waning focus just a little entertaining.

"When Abigail gets here," said Riley, scooting down a little further in his bed, "I am going to get back to work on my outline."

Ben was confused. "Outline for what?"

Riley's eyes drifted shut. "My book of course," replied Riley, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"You're writing a book?"

Riley sat up and looked at his friend. "Yeah. I…I haven't told you?"

"No."

Riley, in his already drugged out state, looked even more confused. "Sure I have."

"No," said Ben. "I am pretty sure you haven't, Riley. I think I would remember."

Riley sat up a little and looked toward Ben. "You haven't heard about my book?"

Ben laughed. "For the last time, you haven't told me about your book, Riley."

"Huh," Riley leaned back again. "Well, how about I tell you about it now?

"That would be great," said Ben.

"Well, I'm gonna write about the templar treasure of course."

"Of course," replied Ben.

"I'm also gonna write about other American conspiracies like Roswell and the magic bullet."

"The Templar Treasure was not a conspiracy, Riley."

"Correction," said Riley. "The Templar Treasure was a conspiracy that turned out to be correct. It is still a conspiracy."

Ben scoffed and pretended to look hurt. "See if I take you on any more adventures."

Riley laughed. "Ben, you found a treasure guarded for centuries by the Free Masons. What else do you think is out there?"

Ben shrugged. "I don't know, Riley. I have been making plans to go out and find the city of gold."

Riley scoffed. "Yeah, well, I get to choose the finder's fee."

Ben and Riley laughed for a few minutes, but it abruptly stopped when Riley broke into a coughing fit. Ben set his hand on Riley's shoulder and looked toward the call button hanging by the bed. He reached out to press it, but Riley weakly grabbed hold of his wrist.

"Don't," Riley rasped out. "The last thing I need is for those nurses to come back in here and start poking and prodding me again. "He sighed. "I think they are part vampire."

Ben chuckled, but was still a little worried about his friend. "Are you sure you're okay?"

Riley sighed. "Yeah."

"You need anything?"

"To go home."

"I'm fresh out of that. How 'bout a glass of water?"

"That was not funny, Ben." Riley leaned back against his pillows and closed his eyes.

"Really? I thought it was classis."

Riley scoffed. "More like pre-historic. You're showing your age, Ben."

Ben shook his head with an expression of mock hurt. "Kids today. No respect."

XVIIIIV

Abigail reached Riley's apartment around five o' clock and immediately began her hunt got the items Riley had requested. The apartment was an absolute mess, and Abigail felt more like she was going an "Eye Spy" than looking for her friend's things.

She found the laptop under a blanket on the couch and tucked it under her arm. Now, she had to find his iPod. It took a lot of searching through some rather questionable items. But she finally found it under a newspaper in the kitchen. Abigail proudly snatched it up and turned around. It was then she spotted the soup she had made sitting on the counter. For a moment, she was a little upset, but she quickly shrugged it off. If Ben had to take Riley to the hospital then the last thing on his mind would have been some soup.

Setting the laptop and iPod on the counter, Abigail picked up the soup, opened the fridge, and set the container on the top shelf. Picking up her finds, Abigail then made her way to Riley's bedroom so she could grab him some clothes.

Finding a backpack laying on the floor, Abigail threw some clothes she thought looked clean into the bag and then set the laptop and iPod inside. Abigail zipped up the bag and threw it over her shoulder as she scanned her surroundings. She had everything Riley had asked for, but was there anything else that he would need. She didn't see anything that jumped out at her in the mess of an apartment and decided it was time leave for the hospital.

XVIIIIV

Riley had fallen asleep about twenty minutes ago, and Ben was watching a documentary on the History Channel without the sound. He didn't really need the sound; there wasn't much he didn't know about the American Revolution, and he doubted the History Channel had anything new to offer that day. Ben was just about to turn off the TV and call Abigail to see where she was when she walked into the room carrying a backpack.

"I got everything he asked for, but I think I need a tetanus shot after digging through that apartment of his." She handed Ben the bag and then looked over at Riley. "How is he doing?"

"Well, when we got here, he was doing well enough to argue with his doctor for about half an hour about whether he was sick enough to actually need to stay at the hospital."

Abigail's jaw dropped. "He actually argued with the doctor?"

"Yep. It was the only time I've ever seen a doctor bargain with someone to get them to stay in a hospital."

Abigail laughed as she took a seat on the end of Riley's bed. "What was the deal?"

"That Riley gets to leave the day after tomorrow if he's shown signs of improvement."

Abigail's brow furrowed. "He has pneumonia, and he is only going to stay here for two and a half days?"

"Riley was about to hop a plane to Mexico if it got him away from that doctor. I'm just glad she got him to stay at all."

"It's good to see that someone appreciates my hard work," said a voice from the doorway of the room.

Abigail looked up, and Ben turned around in his chair. Dr. Shaw was standing in the doorway holding a clipboard in her hands. She walked into the room and extended her hand to Abigail. "I'm Dr. Shaw."

"Abigail chase. I'm Riley's friend."

"How is he doing?" asked Ben.

"Well, we only just administered the medications about an hour ago, so there won't be much difference in his condition yet." She made a note on the clipboard in her hand. "They had done one though."

"What?" asked Ben and Abigail in unison.

Dr. Shaw smirked. "They had effectively stopped him from arguing about having to stay here."

Abigail and Ben looked back over at Riley who had begun to snore quietly.

XVIIIIV

It took Ben forever to find a comfortable spot and after what seemed like hours of searching, Ben had found a semi-comfortable spot that could possibly a lot him a couple hours of sleep. Not that it really matter anymore; it was already close to three in the morning. With a lot of begging and Dr. Shaw's help, Ben had finally been allowed to stay the night much to Riley's relief. Abigail had kissed Ben and Riley good-bye, promising to be back in the morning, before leaving, and not long after her departure, Riley had fallen back asleep. That left Ben alone to try and get comfortable in the incredibly hard chair.

Just when Ben thought he was finally going to be able to fall asleep, he heard a frantic rustling and someone muttering. Considering Ben was pretty sure he was making the noise himself that which left the only other person in the room: Riley. Sitting up in his chair, Ben reached over and turned on the light. Riley was tossing and turning in his bed, and Ben, afraid the younger man was going to rip out his IV, reached over to try and wake Riley up.

"Riley?" said Ben, reaching over to shake his friend's shoulder; he was shocked by how warm the shoulder was. "Riley?"

It took a moment, but Riley opened his eyes and sat up in the bed. For a moment, the young man looked widely about the room before his gaze finally settled on Ben. The treasure hunter was disturbed by the glassiness and lack of focus in Riley's gaze.

"Are we out?" asked Riley.

Ben was confused. "Out of where?"

"The temple!" Riley shouted. "There has to be stairs! We have to get out!"

It took Ben a moment, but he finally realized that while Riley's body was in the hospital room, his mind was far away, and Ben had a pretty good idea where.

"Riley, we're not at the temple. We got out remember." Ben gently took hold of Riley's shoulder.

Riley shook his head. "We've got to get out! We've got to get out before Ian gets back."

Ben realized suddenly that this was more than mere confusion from waking up in the hospital. Riley had a high fever and it was causing him to hallucinate. With reluctance, Ben reached over and pressed the call light. While he waited for the nurse to arrive, Ben kept an arm around his friend's shoulder; it had never really occurred to him that almost being trapped in a centuries old temple would have had that much of an effect on Riley, and to be quite frank, Ben felt like a grade A ass for never having thought about it.

"What's wrong?" asked a voice from the doorway.

Ben looked over his shoulder and saw the nurse standing in the doorway. "He feels like his fever is really high, and I think he might be hallucinating."

The nurse's look went from one of exhaustion (it was 3:00 in the morning after all) to worry as she hurried over to Riley's bed. Ben let go of his friend's shoulders as the nurse began to check Riley over.

"His fever is 104," said the nurse. It sounded incredibly high to Ben, but the nurse seemed relatively calm. "I'm going to go down and get something that will help bring the fever down." She turned toward Ben and gave him a reassuring smile. "He'll be okay. Fever is not unusual for pneumonia. Just stay with him and keep him calm."

Ben nodded and set his arm back around his friend's shoulders. "We're gonna get out, aren't we, Ben?"

Ben felt like a lousy friend. "Yeah. We're gonna get out."

XVIIIIV

Dr. Shaw was looking intently at the x-ray while Ben, Abigail, and Riley waited impatiently for her to tell them something. She made a few notes on the chart in her hands before leaning forward to look at a certain part of the x-ray. With a heavy sigh, Dr. Shaw picked the chart back up and turned toward them.

"Can I leave?" asked Riley before Dr. Shaw could even say anything.

"Well-" started Dr. Shaw.

Riley cut her off before she could finish. "You said I could leave after two days."

"Riley!" said Abigail, shocked by her friend's rudeness.

Dr. Shaw held up her hand to prevent an argument before one could start. "Actually, I said that if you had improved enough in two days, you could leave. Don't try and change my words."

Abigail and Ben saw Riley's face drop, and for their friend's sake, they did hope he was well enough to leave. "Well, am I?"

For a moment, Dr. Shaw's face was completely straight, and Riley feared he was going to be forced to stay here a few more days. However, a few seconds passed, and Dr. Shaw's face broke out into a mischievous grin. "I just wanted to mess with you. Your breathing has improved quite a bit, and your lungs are nearly clear. I'm going to discharge you, but like I said before you should stay with someone until you're back at one hundred percent. I'm also going to write you a couple of prescriptions that you will need to take."

"But I can leave?" said Riley. He was more than ready to get out of the hospital. He'd been ready before Ben even brought him there.

"Yes," said Dr. Shaw. "You can leave, but I will warn you. If you don't take what I've been saying to heart, take the medications, and get some rest, you will be right back in here." Riley nodded. "Okay. I'll go get your discharge papers."

Riley smiled as Dr. Shaw left the room. "Yes!" He threw the blankets back. "Can you hand me my clothes, Ben?"

Ben handed the bag to Riley, and the younger took hold of it and went to the bathroom to change. As he changed, he started asked Ben and Abigail questions. "So, are you guys going to drop me off at my apartment or what?"

Ben and Abigail were both surprised. "You mean to pick up clothes or something?" asked Abigail.

Riley walked out of the bathroom happy to be in real clothes again even if they were just sweats and a sweatshirt. "No. To stay."

Ben and Abigail looked at each other. "You're staying with us, Riley," said Ben. "You heard, Dr. Shaw. You need to stay with someone."

"No. She said I _should _stay with someone." Abigail and Ben were silent. "Come on, guys. I don't want to be in your way."

"You're not gonna be in our way," said Abigail. "Come on, Riley. We like having you over; it's not going to be any bother to us."

Riley let out a defeated sigh. "Okay, but you guys really don't have to do this."

Ben set a hand on his friend's shoulder. "We want to."

Riley shrugged as he went over and sat back down on the bed. Dr. Shaw came back a moment later with the discharge papers, and Riley eagerly began to fill them out.

As Ben watched his friend fill out the forms, he couldn't help but remember what had happened the first night Riley had been at the hospital. Ben hadn't asked Riley about it, and truth be told, he wasn't exactly sure how to bring it up. There was no casual way to say, "_Hey, why do you have nightmares?"_ Ben decided that he was going to have to use some of the time that Riley was at his and Abigail's to figure out what was going on in his friend's head.

TBC


	5. Chapter V: The Couch and Confessions

Title: Red Jello

Author: Ryo314

Rating: K+

Disclaimer: I don't own National Treasure. Disney does. They own everything. If you check, you'll see they own your soul.

Summary: Riley's sick. What more can you want?

Note: Hey! The story is done, and I am happy. You can't see, but I am smiling. Thank you all for reading. By the way, the quote has nothing to do with the content of the chapter. I just really like the quote.

**Red Jello**

Chapter V: The Couch and Confessions

"_Why waste your final hours racing about your cage denying you're a squirrel?" Faber "Fahrenheit 451"_

Ben set Riley's bag of clothes down by the front door and watched with amusement as his friend went directly to the living room and plopped down on the couch. Riley immediately opened up his laptop and waited for it to load.

"Where's my dinner?" Riley asked jokingly as Abigail sat down next to him on the couch.

"Keep talking like that and you can make it yourself," replied Abigail with a laugh. "Didn't Dr. Shaw say you should be resting?"

Riley shrugged. "I'm just on a computer. That isn't exactly stressful."

"I have to disagree," said Ben as he made his way into the living room. "The way you work on a computer, it can be stressful."

Riley looked shocked at the fact Ben and Abigail were ganging up on it. "If you want this computer, you're going to have to fight me for it." Ben raised his eyebrow, and Riley changed tactics. "If you want this computer you're going to have to challenge me to Paper, Rock, Scissors."

Ben tried to hold onto his straight face, but it was no use. "I'm only kidding, Riley. You can go ahead and work on your computer. I'm going to take your bag to your room."

Riley nodded and then smiled when he saw that his computer had loaded. He hadn't gotten much work down in the hospital between sporadic sleeping, fevers and chills, and, what Riley had enjoyed the least, his bouts of nausea. He quickly connected to Ben and Abigail's wifi, it was easy to get around the password he couldn't remember, and started up a game of Tetris.

"I thought you were going to work," said Abigail, looking over her friend's shoulder at the game he had started. "That certainly doesn't look like work."

"It helps me think," said Riley, defending one of his favorite games in the world. "Sometimes, I have to clear my head."

"Most people use a tissue."

Riley did not grant Abigail's joke a laugh. "Come on. I just spent two days in the hospital. Let me unwind."

"I'm not saying you can't play Tetris," said Abigail. "I was just confused because you said earlier you were going to work on your book." She paused for a moment. "What is your book about? You haven't told me."

Riley was surprised that Abigail hadn't heard about his book either, but a thought occurred to him. He hadn't been over to Ben and Abigail's for close to two weeks, and it was during that time that he really started working on his book. For a moment, Riley felt guilty about his attempts to give Ben and Abigail space, but he quickly pushed that to the back of his head; he'd been doing it so that his friends could spend time together.

"Riley? Riley?!" Riley was startled from his thoughts by Abigail and looked over at his friend to see that she had a very worried look on her face. "Are you okay, Riley?"

"Um…yeah. I just kinda spaced out. What were you saying?"

"I asked you what your book was about?"

"Oh. The Templar Treasure and other American Conspiracies. You know. Like Roswell and Kennedy's magic bullet."

"Riley, the Templar Treasure wasn't a conspiracy. It existed. You have a Spyder Ferrari that says so."

"Correction: The Templar Treasure was a conspiracy that just so happened to be true. That does not make it any less of a conspiracy."

Abigail laughed and shook her head. "Whatever you say, Riley. Are you going to send me a copy of your book?"

"Of course," said Riley. "I'll even autograph it for you."

Abigail chuckled. "Why thank you, and if I am ever hard up for money, I can sell it on ebay."

"That was the plan," said Riley.

Abigail shook her head and gave Riley's knee a friendly slap. "Well thank you for your concern of my future finances." She stood up from the couch. "I'm going to go fix some dinner. Call me if you need anything."

"Will do. What are you making?"

"Well, I still have some leftover ingredients from when I made the soup the other night, so I was thinking about making other batch. It will give you a chance to actually taste my soup."

"Great," said Riley. "I don't know what happened to soup Ben brought me."

"I put it in your fridge. I don't know how good it will be by the time you get back to your apartment."

"How long do you plan on keeping me here?"

"How ever long before you are better. Even if it means that I have to tie you down to make sure you get some rest."

"The doctor and Ben threatened to do that to me at the hospital. Did you guys get together and plan it or something?"

"There was a meeting about it on Tuesday. Didn't you get your invite?"

For a moment, all Riley could do was stare at Abigail, but after a moment, Riley broke out laughing. Abigail smiled as she walked do to the kitchen listening to the sound of Riley chuckling and typing on his laptop.

XVIIIIV

Abigail, who had to get up and go to work the next morning, had gone to bed about an hour ago, but Ben and Riley were still sitting in the living room. Ben was sitting in an overstuffed armchair with his feet up on the coffee table, aimlessly flipping the through the television channels while Riley was typing away on his computer. Normally, Ben preferred to spend his evenings reading, but his mind was still trying to find away to approach what had happened at the hospital and he couldn't focus on a book.

"You ever going to settle on anything there, Ben?"

Ben started a bit in his chair and looked up to see that Riley was staring at him. "What?"

"That is the third time you have been through the channels. I know you're always saying that there isn't anything on TV, but I think you have proved your point."

Ben smirked and then flipped off the television. He leaned back in his chair, ran a hand over his face, and sighed.

"Is there something on your mind, Ben?"

Ben looked up and saw Riley slowly closing his laptop; Ben knew that it was now or never if he wanted to talk to Riley about what had happened. "Yeah. There is. Riley, do you ever have…I don't know…nightmares about being trapped down in the temple?"

Riley looked at him like he was crazy. "What?"

"Do you ever have nightmares about being trapped down in the temple? You know, Ian leaving us and us not really finding a way out right away."

"No." Riley paused and fiddled with the blanket Abigail had insisted he sit under. "Why?"

"Because at the hospital…the night your fever spiked…you did."

Riley continued to un-straighten and straighten the blanket for several minutes, before he finally responded to Ben. "Maybe I've had a couple." He looked up and saw the look on Ben's face. "Seriously, only like two…three if you count the one at the hospital, but it's not really a big deal."

"Why didn't you tell me?" asked Ben.

"Because it was no big deal. Ben, we were stuck underground in a temple that was falling apart and had already cost someone their life. You can't tell me you weren't scared too."

"Well, yeah. I was, but you still could have told me."

"I'm fine, Ben. I'm not traumatized or anything. I don't really want to travel to any underground temples for awhile, but other than that, I'm fine. See." Riley gave Ben two thumbs up. "I'm still the same ol' Riley."

Ben laughed. "Okay. I get it; I'll drop the subject. You can talk to me about those things you know."

"I know," said Riley, "but I wasn't going to bother you and Abigail with two nights of lost sleep."

While Riley may have only meant what he said as a passing fact, it spoke volumes to Ben. Suddenly, all the times Riley had avoided coming over and the fact he hadn't wanted to stay with them after getting out of the hospital made sense. Riley hadn't been too busy or too sick…okay maybe he had been too sick the other day, but it was more than that.

"Riley, is that why you haven't been coming over?"

"What do you mean?"

"For the past three weeks, Abigail and I have been trying to get you to come over for dinner or to watch a movie or just to hang out, but every time we've asked, you've made up some excuse not to. I want to know why?" There was a pause. "Did we do something to make you mad?"

"No," said Riley. "You guys didn't do anything." Riley was quiet for a moment. "I was trying to give you and Abigail some space."

Ben was confused. "Why?"

Riley shook his head. "Ben, this is the first time since I have known you that you have been in a serious relationship. I was trying to give you space because I didn't want to make you feel like I was being a third wheel."

Suddenly, it all made sense to Ben, and he felt like an ass for not trying harder to make Riley realized that even though he had a girlfriend, he still needed his best friend. "Riley, you do realize that it has been both me and Abigail who have been trying to get you over here, not just me. You're a friend, Riley, and we want to spend time with you."

"Ben, I don't want to make you guys feel like I am crowding you."

"Riley, trust me, I will be the first to let you know if you are crowding Abigail and me."

Ben and Riley laughed, and after a few seconds, the laughter turned into a yawn for both Ben and Riley. "I think you better get to bed, Riley. Remember what Dr. Shaw said."

"I'm not four, Ben. I don't need a bedtime."

Ben stood from his chair. "Don't make me get the duct tape."

Riley shook his head and set his laptop on the coffee table. He'd probably spend the next day on the same couch, so there was no point in taking the laptop up to the room he was staying in. As they left the living room, Ben switched off the light and set his arm around Riley's shoulders. It felt good to have just about everything back to normal with his friend.

XVIIIIV

Around five days had passed since Riley had been released from the hospital, and everything seemed to be going back to normal. It was the night before Riley was going to return to living at his own apartment, and Abigail had decided that a big meal was in order to celebrate. She'd even decided that the dining room had to be decorated, so she had sent Ben and Riley in search of the table cloth and good dishes which hadn't made it out of their moving boxes yet.

After the table had been set and Abigail had decided that her lasagna was cooked to perfection, the three settled down for the first real diner they'd together in a long time. For awhile, the three friends talked, and Abigail got to hear a bunch of stories from when Ben and Riley had first met.

It was close to the end of diner, and the conversation had turned into a pleasant lull. It was Abigail who broke the silence.

"Riley, can I ask you a question?"

Riley shrugged. "Sure."

"Why are you so afraid of hospitals?"

Ben looked up from what was left of his food. "Yeah, I've been wondering that too."

Riley chose that moment to become incredibly interested in the crust of garlic bread he'd left on his plate. "It's really not that great of a story."

Abigail and Ben looked at each other. "Did you have a bad experience at a hospital?" asked Abigail.

Riley shook his head. "No. Nothing like that."

"Can't you just tell us?" asked Ben.

Riley looked up. "It's ridiculous…and kind of embarrassing."

"We won't laugh."

"You guys can't guarantee that."

"We won't," insisted Abigail. "We promise." Ben nodded in agreement.

Riley sighed but relented. "When I was little, the night before I was supposed to have my tonsils removed, I stayed up late and watched this old zombie film that took place in a hospital on this little TV in my bedroom. When my parents took me to the hospital the next day, I was freaking out. Ever since, I've had this irrational fear that if I stay in the hospital, there will be this zombie uprising, and everyone in the morgue will become flesh eating zombies." He looked up and saw the stunned looks on Ben and Abigail's faces. "I told you it was ridiculous."

For a moment, Ben and Abigail were silent, but a snicker escaped Abigail, and Ben couldn't help but join in.

"Come on. You guys said you wouldn't laugh!"

"Riley, you told us it was ridiculous. Not paranoid and delusional," said Ben. "Without fair warning, we're going to laugh."

"See if I help you guys when there is a zombie uprising." Riley crossed his arms as his friends continued to laugh, but after a few moments of sulking, he joined in. Even though everyone was technically laughing at his expense, it felt good.

_**Finem**_

I am well aware of how ridiculous Riley's reason for hating hospitals is, but after the angst I had earlier, I wanted the story to end on a happy note. I hope you all enjoyed the story. Happy Halloween!


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